I'll give it a play and move on. Just opened my box and the chipped resource cubes made me really sad. Hope I'll get to see some of the expansions there. For me the sheer number of cards/options pull me out of my typical strategy patterns and forces me to try different styles with each play-though. The retelling of that story with the cards that are dealt. Kim, Stanley, Robinson. Stronghold is claiming a street date of October 15. Basically in the regular game, it's there but very minor. Thinking about purchasing some metal cubes and other replacement pieces and want to make sure I've got enough.. Minor quibbles on the mats aside, Terraforming Mars is an absolute winner. Play 51st State: Complete Master Set instead. I like TM at 3, and 4 if everyone is experienced as there is less downtime, and less things happening to the gamestate between turns -- allows a little more leeway for longer-term planning. How does the new map fit into the game? This is one advantage board games have over video games, most people, while they play to win, are not as interested in optimizing their strategy as they are enjoying the game experience. I play with my mom extremely often, and we're probably equally skilled at the game. How many generations will it take for you to get it played? I'm waiting for my copy to arrive but it'll probably still be a while (living in Asia). Even then except for a few cards it's 4 or less, so sure it kind of sucks but not a big deal. This is the review I needed in addition some of the other reviews I've been seeing of this game. Animals and Bacteria are two resources anyways that you can get, that have cards that effectively mitigate using them (Predators and Ants). I agree with the synergy dilution, perhaps the Venus "expansion" is too much, but the new maps and the corresponding awards/milestones do bring some variation. I think it would be fine to be honest, and may open some slightly different strategies with some of the 'advanced resource' cards. All the milestones and achievements are new, some of the milestones are: Diverse, have 8 different tags, Southpole Exlplorer: Have 3 tiles on the southpole and I can't remember the 4 others (yes 4, the expansion adds a new milestone and achievement). Join our community! And the journey in TM is always good for me. Only 3 of the 5 milestones can be claimed every game, so this turns into a bit of a race to grab them. Placing any tile also gives any printed reward underneath it, such as plant, steel, or cards. Terraforming Mars follows in the footsteps of other "lots-of-cards tableau-building games" like Race for the Galaxy. So it hasn't been an issue, although I think if you did have one clear cut leader it could potentially be an issue? H&E expected by the end of summer (possible gencon), Venus maybe q4. H&E slipped a bit in the schedule, so it'd be reasonable to expect Venus is pushed back... EDIT: As others mentioned, Stronghold is claiming a street date of October 15. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. The guys had it with them in Berlin. There is a very satisfying sense of progression in going from scraping together enough to play one or two cards per round, to being able to easily play multiple high-cost cards later in the game as you leverage your steel and titanium production in addition to your increased money generation. It keeps the game fresh for longer and allows for a lot more interesting gameplay. Players either start with a beginning Corporation which gives 42 credits and 10 cards, or if they are an experienced player, 'take 2 and choose 1' advanced corporation. The only downside I would say is at equal skill if someone has a way better start thanks to luck it can be demoralising and hard to catch up. It's the first "big" expansion I believe; I don't know if there's any concrete info on release date, but back at the beginning of 2017 they were expecting the Hellas & Elysium mini-expansion to be out by May and an (unannounced) big expansion to be out by fall. Different milestones and the stuff all seems rather bland. I think games are the most fun before a "metagame" is discovered and established. Join our community! I very much love TM. Cookies help us deliver our Services. You are offered a set of cards, and your job is to figure out how you can best utilize them. Most cards in the base version that affect other players cause them to lose plant resources, so players learn to spend these quickly as soon as they have eight accumulated. Some cards make resources not on the mat, but are created and stored on cards. I think it would be fine and could have an interesting wrinkle vs higher player counts. I haven't played just 2p yet, but I just responded to another comment in this thread asking the same thing. Placing greenery tiles raise the oxygen by 1%. I have backed the upcoming Turmoil expansion because it adds more to that story.I never play games in order to win games, I always play them because of the journey to the end of the game. This is one advantage board games have over video games, most people, while they play to win, are not as interested in optimizing their strategy as they are enjoying the game experience. The goal is to develop an intuition for which cards are worth playing now, which cards are worth saving for later, and which cards aren't worth keeping since it … The site may not work properly if you don't, If you do not update your browser, we suggest you visit, Press J to jump to the feed. Steel is also used to pay for cards, but can only be played on cards that have a 'building' tag. Unreleased. The game also takes longer because when using them, each player starts with a production of '0' for each resource rather than '1' in the base game. The engine building in this game is stellar. The only difference between boardgames and video games that is only in boardgames is the live physical interaction. Terraforming Mars follows in the footsteps of other "lots-of-cards tableau-building games" like Race for the Galaxy. The global parameters tend to be stagnant or creep up very slowly in the first hour of gameplay, but towards the end they can rocket up quickly resulting in races to boost them and get the associated TR bonus before they are maxed out. There are good formulas regarding how valuable cards are, and there are specific contexts where some strategies are going to be more fruitful than others. Also want to ask how it works with 2 and if thats all youd ever play it at, is it still worth getting ? Love this game. Cookies help us deliver our Services. But the Venus Expansions makes the whole game go to 11. From Fryxgames. My friend thinks that TM is one of the best board games ever created, but I disagree. VP are awarded based on: TR rating, awards and milestones, VP on any cards that have been played, and tiles placed on the board. Hoping the quality game play helps me look pass the imperfections. Only three awards can be unlocked, and they become progressively more expensive to unlock. Any tile subsequently placed next to an ocean tile gives the player placing the new tile a two-credit bonus. Tentatively October which can easily mean next year considering that Stronghold constantly fails to meet release/restock schedule. Drafting mitigates that quite a bit, but not completely. You need a board upgrade of some sort or it is too easy to lose track of how many resources you are collecting. It definitely isn't 'play whatever looks best.'. Electricity is used for certain cards and at the end of every round unused electricity is converted into heat. Sure, some of it is luck, and that can be frustrating, but TM generally does a great job of reducing this as a factor in my experience. Floaters are a resource just like microbes. I do like complex games but it just feels a little bloated or something. The map is very diverse and allows for some crazy new strategies. If a player has this card and wants to play it, they must time the play as these cards become effectively useless once the threshold limit is passed. The #1 reddit source for news, information, and discussion about modern board games and board game culture. But it's stronghold, so add 3-6 months to any projection. Clearly the designers "know their Mars", and it's almost quasi-educational learning even from the rulebook on why the global parameter targets are set to what they are set. You just didnt try one of the video games which attract people because of that aspect of gaming. The fact it was supposed to be releasing at Gen Con was the reason I ended up booking and making my first trip out there. Sure - I did mention it a couple of times in the review but it's buried in a lengthy wall of text :). Then again, that is 2P, and your example is probably talking about 3P, so it may be different. Over the next few months I have two games on my radar, this one and A Feast for Odin. You don't get screwed in the same way as something where you make a decision and then randomness decides the outcome (ie dice rolling for combat). I realize I could look this up, but, you know, I'm here, and can't be bothered to open a new tab. They haven't announced it yet, but it's coming soon. Thanks for doing this review. TR provides two benefits: first it counts as money production. What preludes do I have that work well with that? The components are overall very good. In the standard game you only draw four cards each round and it is very possible not to get any of a certain type of card, or only to get a broad spread of everything and not have any good combos appear. I also have a card that's messed up. PS. The board is excellent and looks visually appealing given how dry it could have been. They include: Celestic: As your first action go to through the deck and find the first two cards with floaters on them. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I feel like that's what makes it so great. I do not like how much "stuff' there is with the game. We had a full game of 5 people going, two new players and three extremely advanced players (around 80 games each). Your specific gripe is a weakness of strategies that don't include drawing cards or that focus too much on the short-term. My only concern for games without set number of rounds is that if there is a clear winner, other players tend to lose motivation. Thicker mats with a linen finish would have been more appropriate here, especially given the MSRP of the game. I liked the game quite a bit, but I think it went on a little long. == Terraforming Mars - An Incredible Engine Builder. wow, thanks for the in depth review. The achievement were Eccentric: Have the most resources (cubes on cards, like animals etc.) I have never played solo so I wouldn't be able to tell you, sorry. You have to work with what you're given. It has fungus and worms. Plants are used to make greenery tiles. The new map is coming in August and the Venus Expansion is set to release for the Essen Spielemesse in September. And Action: Place a floater on any Venus card. They mostly interact with the -V- track by moving it forward or allowing you to draw cards. There are a good number of cards that affect other players, but not enough that it feels like a player can be ruined by 'take that' cards. You can't just decide how you're gonna win before the game even starts. About game: Mars, after Earth, is the best explored planet in Solar System - the expeditions of Curiosity, Pathfindera or Phoenixa not only brought a lot of information but also ignited imagination. What do you lose out on by playing it? I've already bumped it from an 8 to an 8.5 to a 9 over 5 plays and it likely will end in my top-10 games all time.